How hard is it to believe a Black woman when she talks about colorism?

Twitter had to get Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy together after they openly questioned Amara La Negra‘s experience with colorism.

When Amara dropped by The Breakfast Club today, she probably didn’t anticipate having to validate what she’s been through.

Amara has been out here pushing the conversation about Afro-Latinas since the moment she appeared on Love & Hip Hop: Miami. First, she had to explain what it was to American audiences, but it only got worse from there. She later had to defend her complexion as she was accused of being a White Latina in Blackface.

“It’s really sad the fact that I even have to answer these questions. The fact that I have to feel as if I have to prove myself because every single part of me is being questioned,” she said during her interview. “I feel there’s a lot of ignorance when it comes to Afro-Latina.”

But she was willing to cut the masses some slack because she’s aware that there aren’t many women like her in the mainstream.

“At the same time, I can’t even be mad at you,” she conceded, “because there really isn’t a lot of Afro-Latinos doing anything on the entertainment. If they are, they’re really not talking about it.”

It’s not for lack of trying, though! Amara has been in the entertainment industry for a long time, and she’s faced a lot of colorism in during her career.

“They’ll always pick the lighter–the ones who look like J.Lo–before they look at us. Who cares if you’re talented? Who’s cares if you’re educated? You’re always going to be the last option,” she explained.

For example, she shared a story about how she was rejected by a casting agent for a Latin soap opera because she has a “special look.” By “special look” they meant dark, and they flat out told her that they would not be casting a dark-skinned woman unless they needed a gangster, a prostitute, or a slave. That’s just one instance she used to illustrate the larger point of how much harder it is for women of color to get ahead in the entertainment industry.

“We need to discuss certain things; we need to be judged off talent and knowledge not how we look,” Amara said. “I shouldn’t feel obligated to change the way that I am or the way that I look.”

That’s when Charlamagne did what Charlamagne does, and stuck his foot directly in his mouth.

“You sure it’s not in your mind?” Charlamagne questioned. “What is Cardi B? How do you explain her? Cardi’s teeth was messed up, she came from the strip club, she’s so-called ratchet and ghetto as hell. Now she’s America’s darling.”

Then DJ Envy doubled down on Charlamagne’s line of thought, questioning whether there actually is any colorism in the Latinx community because he doesn’t it. He even asked Amara whether she believes Cardi has a lighter complexion than her, when a casual observer could certainly tell the difference in their skin tones.

Twitter immediately leaped in to correct both Charlamagne and DJ Envy, highlighting how upsetting it is that two Black men could not grasp what Amara was talking about–and worse that they invalidated it.

I don’t get what these people don’t understand. Only difference between African Americans and Afro Latinos is that we speak English, they speak Spanish and we were dropped off at a different slave port

Wow, the whole time while Amara La Negra was trying to explain how difficult it is being a darkskinned black Latina in the music industry, Charlamagne and Envy tried to invalidate her struggles. pic.twitter.com/FmqTQRay6o

Listening to you deny that colorism exists today in the U.S. made me sad for your daughters. Let’s see if you feel the same way in 5 years when your daughters are passed over for girls that look like @djenvy’s daughters. It’s sad u continue to deny the experiences of Black women.